It smells like burnt European potatoes. Since a trade deal was signed between the EU, Colombia and its neighbors (Peru and Ecuador) in 2013, cheap Belgian, Dutch and German frozen fries have taken South American stalls by storm.
customs duties
An ecological aberration if we think of the greenhouse gases emitted by these potatoes destined to travel almost 9,000 km in refrigerated containers. Bogota in particular denounces unfair competition, which has been trying to block their way with clumsy tariffs (8%) since 2018.
Colombia doesn’t want to have the fries eaten on their backs by Europeans, who only discovered the potato in the 16th century, when the Andean region believed to be their cradle has been enjoying them for 8,000 years. ! Even today, a Colombian swallows an average of 62 kg of potatoes per year (50 kg for a Frenchman). And the three million tons of tubers that grow in his fields feed 400,000 families.
The WTO agrees with the European Union
Not enough to move Belgium. The world leader in French fries can count on the support of the EU: let us use all the means at our disposal to remove the trade restrictions that affect our companies , pounded Phil Hogan, the EU’s trade commissioner, in 2020.
On Monday, October 10th, the World Trade Organization (WTO) reached an agreement with the EU and considered this tariff barrier to be unfounded. Bogotá will appeal. But the EU Commission is already cheering on Twitter: The French fries trade is becoming much easier. To hell with the good decisions of the Green Pact to combat global warming? The EU is obviously not ready to rob itself of its environmentally harmful French fries trade.
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